Healthcare can be such a joke

It’s that time of year again! The time for headaches and sneezes, belly aches and snot, coughing and fevers, and maybe a visit to the doctor.

Personally, I hate going to the doctor, and I am pretty sure I am not alone in that statement. For me to go to the doctor, I have to be pretty much on my death bed. Even then, they might as well start digging the hole first. Maybe my hate for doctors stems from a bed experience, or maybe I just don’t like the wait. Either way, I hate going, and I hate taking my kids.

This year has been a bad one when it comes to colds and coughs. I have been sick for roughly a month, maybe longer. I feel as if I have been sick on and off almost the entire summer. My son on the other hand, just started getting sick earlier in September. I remember it clearly because it was just after he started walking. I thought to myself, how funny is it that he has been walking for three weeks and still looks like he is walking drunk!

Now mind you, we knew he was getting a cold. He would wake up in the middle of the night from coughing fits and wake up in the morning with his face covered in snot. We attempted to medicate him ourselves, with Tylenol and steamy bathrooms and sucking out all the snot. But enough was enough.

Finally one morning, I was sick, my baby was sick, my husband was complaining, and my two daughters woke up hacking up their tiny little lungs. I was done and it had gone on for way to long. We made a family visit to urgent care. My intention, we would all get drugged up and get better.

After our visit, things didn’t go as planned. My son got medicine cause he had a double ear infection and I got medicine (but I think it was purely to shut me up). We were told there was nothing they could do. It was all viral. What happened to the good old days when you went to the doctor and they could make you feel better. Now, I am told it is viral and will last up to 6 weeks.

At least there is hope for my son. After a week on his medication, we start noticing a rash. We monitor it, but really think nothing of it. Within a couple of days, he still has the rash and it is getting worse. Another trip to the doctor. This time, I am told it might be a reaction to the antibiotics, which by the way, still haven’t made him 100% better. With his medicine almost gone, he still has a double ear infection. So now, he is switched to another medicine. Only two doses in, and his rash has gotten worse again. Back to the doctor again! This time we are told it is a viral rash. Again, nothing they can do about it. So now, here we sit, my son all filled with polka dots, and there is nothing the doctors can do about it. To make matters worse, his birthday is Saturday, and I am pretty sure he will still be covered from head to toe with this rash!

So, is that visit to the doctor really worth it. The bill alone will probably take my entire week’s worth of wages. Not to mention, no one in my family has yet to recover from this cold. No one is able to stay home and quarantine themselves until we all finally get better, because the bills have to be paid. So, we went to the doctor after suffering long enough, to be told there is nothing that can be done.

I was told the doctors do all they can, but they are after all, just “practicing medicine” and it is at best an educated guess. Why do we pay so much for someone who is just practicing. I cut hair for a living and let me tell you, if I was “practicing” on my clients, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have a job for long. I am expected to be a professional and an expert. Yet, as a professional and expert, I get paid so much less for someone who is just practicing.

To me, healthcare seems to be heading into a joke with a very bad ending. Don’t get me wrong, doctors are necessary. One day when I am truly on my death bed, or if I am having a heart attack, or maybe if there is something they could actually help me with, they can be very necessary. To make an appointment where I leave less than satisfied because I know I am not on the path to getting better is just a joke! Why should I have to pay them $100 for an office visit, where I wait for 20 minutes in the waiting room, another 20 minutes in the doctor’s office, to be seen for roughly 5 minutes and sent home with nothing but a shrug and told there is nothing they can do. It truly is unfair!! Yet I can’t sleep at night cause I keep waking up coughing, my ears are hurting and I keep on sneezing. My son on the other had seems mildly oblivious to his condition.

I guess that means it is time to take matters into my own hands. I refuse to go back to the doctor to once again get turned away! So, I will gather up the chicken noodle soup and the boxes of Kleenex, cuddle with blankie while I sip on some tea and drink gallons of waters. Hopefully one of these times, I won’t cough so hard that I pee myself from all the gallons of waters I drank trying to get rid of this stupid cold!